2 disgruntled Cong MLAs meet Siddaramaiah

Two of the four disgruntled Congress MLAs who face the threat of disqualification met former chief minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Friday and reportedly pledged loyalty to the party.

“MLA B Nagendra and Ramesh Jarkiholi met CLP
@siddaramaiah along with Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan,” Karnataka Congress said in a tweet.

At the one-to-one meeting, the legislators pledged their loyalty to the party and requested the CLP leader to withdraw the disqualification petition filed before the Assembly Speaker.

Siddaramaiah is said to have advised both Jarkiholi and Nagendra not to take any decision in haste.

The CLP leader on Thursday had said his petition seeking disqualification of four disgruntled party MLAs was pending with the Speaker, who is the competent authority to take action under the anti-defection law.

The four disgruntled Congress MLAs, who had remained incommunicado for several weeks amid political turmoil, surfaced on Wednesday.

They had defied party whip twice to attend the CLP meetings on January 18 and February 8. The four - Ramesh Jarkiholi, Umesh Jadhav, B Nagendra and Mahesh Kumathalli - were reported to be in touch with the BJP, which has been accused of trying to poach the MLAs to bring down the JD(S)-Congress government.